Beet harvesting and topping device



Nov. 2, 1954 Filed Nov. 20, 1951 A. O. KRlER BEET HARVESTING AND TOPPINGDEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. O. Krlert l Alxcnder NOV- 2, 1954 A.o. KRIR BEET HARVESTING AND TOPPING DEVICE v2 Sheet's-Sheet 2 Filed Nov.20, 1951 INVENTQR. Alexander O. Krler.

m bx 4W] /Lf' /ffv Huy United States Patent liice 2,693,069 PatentedNov. 2, .1954

BEET HARVESTNG AND TPPNG DEVICE Alexander scar Krler, Columbus, Ohio,assignor t 'like Scott-viper Company, Commons, Unio, a corporation ofUhio Appiieation November 2li, 1951, Serial No. 257,283

4 Claims. (Cl. :i5-108) The present invention relates to a beetharvester o the type that tops beets arier they have been removed fromine soil, and particularly to .ai neet narvester'utiiizing spacedgauging rods to position beets relative to knives Ior ro er topping.

cuglt'llileg gauging roti OIL) the present invention are mounted on a'peet harvester below a conveyor means carrying beets suspended by theirtops upwardly trom tne soil. rl'wo such gauging rods are utilized toengage the suspended beet on its crown on each side or ine beet green,or top as it wil1-be called herein. Below tl e gauging bars, toppingknives are provided for severing the beet body from the top. The noveltyot the pre;- ent apparatus lies in the mounting ot lthe gauging 'ro s soas to yieldingly receive beets carried thereto in a steady ow withoutplugging of the umechanism.

A further object of the present invention 1s to provide for mounting thegauging rods and topping knives in a novel way so that they can bevertically adjustable to accommodate beets having a great variance 1nsize and top development. Stich great variance is encountered from yearto year, or from iield to field, in contrast to the relative slightvariance in beet size encountered in the steady ow harvesting of a rowof et in a iven eld. beltsis desirble to utilize space d gauging rods ina beet harvester for reasons of simplicity and economy, and applicantsinvention for yieldingly and adiustably mounting these gauging rods hasresulted 1n a simple, efficient beet gauging apparatus that eliminatesthe use of complicated mechanisms of moving parts subJected to cornlexmotions. p Further definitions, results and advantages of the presentinvention will be apparent from the following description, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, wherein one embodiment of theinvention is illustrated.

In the drawinvs: Fig. l is a scohei'natic view of the main parts of abeet harvester constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the gauging rods utilized in thepresent inventionr Fig. 3 is a top elevational view of the gauging rodsutilized in the present invention;

Fig. 4 is a partial rear elevational v iew of a beet harvester showingthe location of the topping knives relative to the gauging rods;

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view taken essentially along line 5 5 onFig. l, showing the rear mountings for the gauging rods utilized in thepresent invention; and

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view taken essentially along line 6 6 onFig. l, showing the front mountings for the gauging rods utilized in thepresent invention, and showing the gauging rods rocked upward by forceexerted by a contacting beet crown.

Referring to Fig. l of the drawing, a beet harvester is schematicallyshown having a frame indicated generally at 20. A plow 21 is mounted nthe forward end of the frame for loosening the beets from the soil. Aconveyor 22 is arranged to grasp and to clasp along its length the beettops as seen at 23 and to convey the beets in a steady ow, upwardlytowards a pair of gauging rods indicated generally at 24. A pair oflifter shoes 19 in the form of horizontally extending rods yarepositioned forward on the frame to guide the beet tops to the conveyor22.

Referring to Fig. 3, it is seen that gauging rods 24 have forward endsoutwardly liared at 25. This outward are is great enough to allow theentry of the largest beet tops. The space between the rods is lessenedat 26 so that the gauging rods 24 will contact the sides of the beettops to hold the beets centrally aligned. The vertical distance betweenthe gauging rods 24 and the conveyor 22l becomes progressively greatertowards the rear, and conveyor 22 yieldingly grasps the beet tops whenthe beets arrive at the upper portion of the conveyor indicated at 27.When a beet, such as the one shown at 29, is engaged by the gauging rods24, it is drawn vertically downward relative -to the conveyor, but thebeet top is yieldingly clasped so that tension is retained in beet top23 as beet 29 is conveyed rearwardly toward a pair or" topping knives3i).

By yieldingly retaining tension in beet tops at 27 along conveyor 22,the beets are constantly urged upwardly against gauging rods 24 toposition them for proper topping as they proceed along the gauging rods24.

Referring to Fig. 6, the apparatus for yieldingly mounting the forwardends of gauging rods 24 is clearly shown. Reference will be made to onegauging rod for convenience of description. Frame Ztl 'lixedly carries ashaft guide 31 in which a shaft 32 is slidably carried.

A second shaft guide 34 is horizontally disposed on the lower end ofshaft 32 and is provided with a hole 35 for receiving a horizontal shaft36. Gauging rod 24 is fastened to the inwardly extending end of thelatter shaft. The springs 53 and 54 are arranged on shafts 32' and 36respectively, so that the shafts will be slidable in their respectiveguides. thereby providing yielding mountings for gauging rod 24. Thesprings 53 and 54 are located on the shafts to constantly urge the vgauging rod 24 inwardly and downwardly as shown in Fia4 6.

The guides 31 and 34 are provided with holes 33 and 35 of greaterdiameter than the shafts 32 and 36 respectivelv carried therein. Theguide holes are of such a greater diameter than the shafts that thelatter would be loosely carried therein. were it not for the constantlyurging springs 53 and 54 imparting rigidity to the assembly. Suchclearance between the shafts and the housings imparts additionalflexibility to the gauging rods 24 in that they can rock upward to theposition shown in 6 when rods 24 engage the crown of a beet that is toolarge to be accommodated by the first mentioned flexibility imparted tothe gauging rods 24 by the sliding action of shafts 32 and 36 inhousings 31 and 34 as previously described. Hence it is seen thatgauging rods 24 are rnade flexiblv moveable bv the sliding and rockingactions of shafts 32 and 36 which are mounted vieldingly responsive toforces imparted to gauging rods 24 by the crowns of the upwardly urgedbeets being positioned thereby.

Referring to Fig. 5 and particularly to the mounting of one franginorod. it is seen that the rearward end of gauging rnd 24 is mounted toyield horizontally outwardly in opposition to the normally inwardpressure of a spring 55 carried on a shaft 39. The outer end of shaft 39passes thru a slot 40 in a bracket 41. for mounting the shaft to thebracket. Slot 40 is provided to permit longitudinal adjustment of thetopping knives 30 relative to the gauging rods 24. By moving the toppingknives forwardly or backwardly, relative to the gauging rods, theposition along the gauging rod at which the beet is topped can bevaried, without eifecting the vertical distances between the conveyor,the topping knives, and the gauging rods. Here again, as is shown forthe forward mountings in Fig. 6. clearance is provided between the shaft39 and the slot 40 for the rear mounting of rod 24 to allow shaft 39 andthe forward end of rod 24 carried thereby to rock upward in response toforce applied to rod 24 by unusually large beet crowns.

The bracket 4l is fastened by bolts 41a in slots 41h to pvoted beam 42which is in turn pivotallv mounted to the frame side at 43. Slots 41bare provided to allow vertical adiustrnent of bracket 41 relative tobeam 42. Pvoted beam 42 also carries a knife shaft bearings 44 near theinner ends thereof. Thus it is seen that a gauging rod 24 and a knifeshaft bearing 44 are both mounted to the inner end of a pivotal beam 42and therefore, they are both effectively mounted to pivot about the sameaxis A knife disk 45 is mounted on the knife shaft 49 to be driven bythe rotation of the shaft. Knife disk 45 and shaft 49 are retained fromsliding in bearing 44 by a pa1r of collars 46, so that knife 4S ispivotally carried about point 43 along with the gauging rod 24.

To impart vertical adjustment to the gauging rod and the knife, a crank47 is carried by frame 20, and provided with external threads to engagecooperating internal threads in the frame, as shown generally at 4S. Thecrank extends downward to engage the pivoted beam 42 so that rotation ofcrank 47 will impart vertical adjustment to the gauging rod 24 and theknife 45, both effectively carried by pivoted beam 42 so as to moveessentially vertically when the crank 47 is actuated.

The knife shaft 49 is provided with a spline section 5G and a universaljoint 51 to provide a flexible drive between a power take-off mounted tothe frame and the topping knives that are movably adjustable relative tothe frame.

`Referring again to Fig. 4 it is seen that the distance between theconveyor 22 and a topping knife edge 52 is designated B. Also thedistance between the gauging rod 24 and the topping knife edge 52 isdesignated A. When crank 47 is actuated to simultaneously raise thegauging rod and the knife, both the vertical distances A and B areshortened. Such a shortening is desirable to adjust the toppingmechanism to accommodate smaller beets. When dimension A is shortened,less of the beet crown will be severed from the beets along with thetops, thereby eliminating the wasting of usable portions of the beet. Atthe same time, it is desirable to shorten dimension B so that theshorter length of the tops on small beets can span the distance from theconveyor to the gauging rods.

ln order to decrease the dimension A, between the topping knife edge 52and the conveyor, it will be understood that actuation of crank 47 willraise the rear portion of the gauging rod, at 39, and the knife edge 52,at approximately the same rate due to the common pivot 43. The gaugingrod at its front mounting, however, remains xed relative to the conveyorsince it is secured directly to the frame at 32. Henceany intermediatepoint on the gauging rod will be raised, relative to the conveyor, adistance less than the amount the rear end of gauging rod will beraised. For example, the point along the gauging rods length at which asugar beet engages the knives will always be considerably forward of therear end of the gauging rod. Hence, such point of knife contact israised less, upon actuation of crank 47, than knife edge 52 such thatdimension A is decreased at the time dimension B is decreased, and by asingle adjusting crank. v

In the embodiment just described, the dimensions A and B aresimultaneously shortened or lengthened to accommodate various sizedbeets by the actuation of a single adjusting crank.

In Fig. 6, the collars S6, 57 and 58 are slidably mounted on shafts 32and 36 and provided with set screws so that the collars can be fastenedin different positions along the shaft. This arrangement providesvertical and horizontal adjustments for gauging rod 24, so that the rodmay be positioned for properly guiding beets of various sizes. Such anadjustment Vis usually not made during a harvesting operation, but maybe made when the machine is not operating, to accommodate largevariations in. beet size as is sometimes encountered from year to yearor from locality to locality.

In operation, the beet harvester is pulled along a row of beets by atractor. The plow shown at 21 in Fig. l dislodges the beets from thesoil and the lifter shoes 19 cooperate with conveyor 22 to carry thebeets upwardly and rearwardly towards the gauging rods 24 that functionas described herein to position the beets for proper topping by thetopping knives 30. In the event that a variation in beet size isencountered in different fields, or at an end of a particular fieldwhere the moisture supply and soil conditions have produced such avariation, the operator need merely actuate crank 47 to adjust thepositions of the gauging rods 24 and the topping knives 30 relative tothe conveyor 22. After the beet bodies are severed from the tops, theyare free to fall into a hopper, not shown. The severed beet tops areejected from the conveyor at its upper end, and the tops may bediscarded in the field or collected in a hopper, which ever is desired.

While the form of embodiment of the present invention as hereindisclosed constitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood thatother forms might be adopted, all coming within the scope of the claimswhich follow.

I claim: Y

l. In a beet harvester of the type wherein a wheeled frame is providedwith a conveyor for lifting beets from the soil, improved beet toppingmechanism comprising two members laterally spaced, one from the other,beneath the conveyor, each of said members being pivotally mounted to arespective side of the frame; two laterally spaced parallelly disposedbeet positioning guides each having a front portion attached to theframe and a rear portion attached to one of said members; beet topsevering means disposed beneath the guides and carried by said members,and means for rotating said members about their pivotal mountings forsimultaneously adjusting the guides and the severing means relative tothe conveyor and relative to each other.

2. Improved beet topping mechanism as set forth in claim l wherein thebeet positioning guides are mounted horizontally yieldable relative tothe frame and the pivotally mounted members.

3. Improved beet topping mechanism as set forth in claim l wherein thebeet positioning guides are mounted rockablerelative to the frame andthe pivotally mounted members.

4. Improved beet topping mechanism as set forth in claim l wherein thebeet positioning guides are mounted horizontally yieldable and rockablerelative to the frame and the pivotally mounted members.

References Cited in the iile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number

